Jan. 16-22; 'I Can Sell You A Garden Rake'

Take large dollops of snow. Add inch-thick ice. Put in deep-freeze (in any state from Kentucky to Maine), add a shortage of snow shovels and rock salt, and you have a recipe for helplessness.

Most hardware stores have sold out of the tools of winter, as most tool makers are turning out rakes and hoes for the gardening season. "Our major season for making snow tools is May, June and July," said John Stoner, a vice president at True Temper Hardware in Camp Hill, Pa.

Even if True Temper wanted to make more shovels, he said, it would take at least eight weeks before shoppers would see one.

Rock salt is even rarer than shovels -- more than 95 percent of it goes to highway authorities and town governments. That means that not much rock salt is sold in bags in supermarkets. And what there was has pretty much disappeared from the shelves.

Not surprisingly, there has been a run on Kitty Litter. It won't melt the ice, but it does improve traction. And with the cat box stuff, the typical shopper does not have to compete with towns and highway authorities. JOSHUA MILLS

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A version of this article appears in print on January 23, 1994, on Page 4004002 of the National edition with the headline: Jan. 16-22; 'I Can Sell You A Garden Rake'. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe